Hans Dons

Start exhibited at Gardermoen

Hans Fleischer Dons (13 June 1882 – 28 October 1940) was a Royal Norwegian Navy officer. He is most associated with the first manned flight in Norway.^[1] ^[2]

Biography[]

Dons was born in Øvre Eiker, Norway. He was the son of Johannes Albrecht Dons (1839-1921) and Johanne Marie Fleischer (1850-1943). He attended the Royal Norwegian Naval Academy (1901-05) and Technische Hochschule Charlottenburg (1907-08). From 1909, he served in the Royal Norwegian Navy as second in command on board Norway's first submarine HNoMS Kobben. He was a naval attache at the Norwegian Legacy in Washington, D.C.(1917-19) and held the same position at London and Paris (1927-30). Dons was the head of the Naval submarine fleet and served in the Admiral Staff (1929-35). ^[3]

On 1 June 1912 Dons performed the first manned flight in Norway in a monoplane named Start. The fixed-wing aircraft was designed by Etrich Taube and was made in Germany by Edmund Rumpler. A few days later, 7 June, Dons flew from Borre over Horten, crossing Oslofjord to Moss and Fredrikstad – covering a distance of 48 km in 35 minutes. ^[4]

In 1935 Dons published his book: Start: En norsk flyvehistorie fra 1912-13 (Oslo: Cammermeyers, 1935). Start is on display at the Norwegian Armed Forces Aircraft Collection located at Gardermoen, north of Oslo, Norway. ^[5]^[6]

References[]

^ "Flyr Dons rute på 100-årsdagen". Fredrikstad Blad. Retrieved February 1, 2018.
^ "Flyet Start og Hans Fleicher Dons". forsvaretsmuseer.no. Retrieved February 1, 2018.
^ "Hans Fleischer Dons". lokalhistoriewiki.no. Retrieved February 1, 2018.
^ Vera Henriksen. "Hans Dons". Norsk biografisk leksikon. Retrieved February 1, 2018.
^ "Løytnant Dons - Norges første flyger". NRK. Retrieved February 1, 2018.
^ "Norges "Start" – Den første norske flyvningen". luftfartsmuseum.no. Retrieved February 1, 2018.

Hans Dons

Contents

Biography[]

See also[]

References[]

Related reading[]